Container and rack for presenting articles

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for dispensing articles which includes a container and a rack to hold the container in an inverted position. The rack cooperates with the container to support the container in a predetermined manner so as to allow articles to move from the container through an opening in the container.

[451 Dec. 4, 1973 United States Patent Zinkgraf et al.

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[73] Assignee:

[22] Filed:

France 206/56 AC 783,525 7/1935 513,791 9/1952 Belgium 221/197 KraftoCorporation, Glenview Sept. 17, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 181,614

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-David A. Scherbe][52] U s C] Attorney-William E. Anderson et a1.

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References Cited v UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,002,651 206/5 6 AC 1 Claim, 4Drawing Figures Theipresent invention relates generally to apparatus.

for dispensing packaged articles, with a particular application being anapparatus for dispensing: portionpackaged condiments.

Portion' packaged condiments have become popular, but there remains aneed for more efficient means for dispensing such items. At present, acommon means for dispensing condiments is a rigid container into whichthepackaged condiments are placedby'hand for subse-. quent removal bythe user. If thecontainer'is not filled properly the packagesmay becomebound against one.

another inside: thecontainer.

Therefore, the'primaryobject of the present inven tion. is to provide anarticledispenser apparatus.

It is another object of thisinvention to provide dis-. penser apparatuswhich israesthetically pleasing .in. its appearance.

Still. another objectof this-invention: isto provide a showing acontainer and .rackin accordancerwiththe.

present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 containing packagedarticles taken along line 2--2 in1 FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an alternative embodiment, partially broken away, of thecontainer shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a blank from which thecontainer of FIG. 1 may be constructed.

While the invention will be described in. connection with certainpreferred embodiments, it will. be :understood that it is not intendedto limit the invention to these particular embodiments.

Referring to FIGS. l &.2,1 thereis depicted a.dispensing apparatusembodying the present invention; The apparatusconsists of a rack 11which serves as a holding means for container 12. The'container 12 isrectangularin shape and is constructed of any suitable material, such aspaper, cardboard or metal foil. The container l2.has four. rectangular.body portions, a back portion 14, a front portion 16and twosideportionslS and 20 with suitable closure flaps 22 providedon one endand the other end beingprovidedwith a hinged'end flap 24attached to edge25 of the back rectangular body portion and two hinged side flaps 26 and28 attached to side body portions 18 and .20. The container is filled byany suitable means which is capable of placing articles, such ascondiment packages, in an array within the container; theflaps are thenclosed for shipment.

The rack is provided with legs 30, 32, 30a and32a.

which are generally spaced in a rectangular configura+ tion and whichextendvertically. The legs 32and "32a. provide a side restraint forcontainer 12 by havingthev upperportion of legs 32 and l32abearing'against the container side portions.

To the legs there .is attached. an inclinedcontainer support means 34.The lower terminusof support means 34 projects frontwardly from theplane defined.

2 by legs 32 and 32ato form a horizontal tray portion 36. Thetrayportion 36- is provided with a front wall 38 and .end walls 40 so as toform anxenclosed area for receivbearing surface for a container side.edge 25.

An optional rear'cross member 48 may be affixed to legs 30 and 30aforming a horizontal member between the legs a predetermined distanceabove the. rear restraint 44. Therearcross member 48 aids in preventingthe container from tipping backwards and provides additionalrigidity tothe rack.

A horizontal cross member 50 is affixed to legs 32 and 32a between thelegs a predetermined distance above the lower terminus of inclinedsupport means 34. Thecross member 50 restrains forward movement of thefront portion 16 of a container l2..to prevent forward movement anddownward rotation of container 12. The cross member 60 may beextendedangularly downwardly along both sides of the rack toward legs 30and30a and may be 'affixed to legs 30 and 30a so as to form an angledside member 52 which provides further rigidity to the rack. The angledside member 52 may be further extended beyondlegs 30 and 30a to providerearsupport legs 54 thereby increasing the stance of therack-andproviding a more stable rack base.

When it is desired to dispense articles from within the container, the.container 12 is. inverted and placed within the rack so as to causetheedge 25 'of the back portion 14 to bear against portion 46 of theinclined support member 34. The container is then rotated slightly so asto bring the front portion 16 of the container in contact withhorizontal .cross member 50. Thus supported, the container is in anequilibrium positionanddoes not fall forward or slide down the inclinedsupport. With the container placed in its supported invertedpositionwithin the rack, the end flap 24may beopened so as to come to rest onthe inclined support means 34. The enclosed articles will then movedownwardly under the force of gravity from within the-container 12 ontothe tray 36 thereby causingtheendflaps 26 and.28 to be forced outward.The flaps are forced outward until they bear against a portion ofthelegx32a (or another container flap if a rack capableof supportingtwoormorecontainers is being employed). Theend flaps 26 and 28 then serveto prevent thearticles from spilling over the sides of the inclinedsupport means 34.

Theend flaps 26 and 28sare generally triangular in shapewithan angle A,as shown in FIG. 2, which generally corresponds to the angular slope ofthe inclined support means34. This allows the flaps to have a side whichconforms to and may bear against the surface of the inclined supportmeans 34. Thus, when the flaps are in their opened position they serveto aid in the'support of container 12. Ingeneral, the-inclined supportmeans and the pre-formed. angular side flaps are formed to provideanangle Aas seen in FIG. 20f from about 10 to about 60. Preferably, theangle A is from about 20 to about 45.

The unique construction of the apparatus of the invention provides a.highly efficient article dispenser. The individual articles aredelivered to the user in combe loaded in the container by automatedoperation.

They are neatly arranged within the container and flow smoothly into thetray portion of the rack.

The apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 is capable of holding two containers ina side-by-side relationship. Alternative apparatus in accordance withthe invention can include one, two, three or more containers inside-byside relationship. Additionally, one or more racks and relatedcontainers can be placed in vertical relationship by suitable mountingmeans 56 located on the upper extremities of the rack legs 30 and 300which cooperate with legs 32 and 32a to support the verticallypositioned rack. The apparatus can also be provided with port meansthereby eliminating the need for the container side flaps.

In FIG. 4 there is shown a blank from which a container may be assembledin accordance with the preferred embodiment of the container portion ofthe invention. The blank consists of a rectangular body portion definedby corners 60, 62, 64, and 66, divided into a back wall 14, two sidewalls 18 and 20 and a front wall 16 by the fold lines 68, 70 and 72. Byfolding these walls inward a rectangular container, open at both ends,is formed. A tab 74 may be provided on wall 14 to facilitate affixingwall 14 to wall 18 by glue or other means. To close one end of therectangular container there are provided closure flaps 22 attached tothe sides of walls 14, l6, l8 and 20. These flaps are merely foldedinward until they are perpendicular to their respective walls andsecured by glue or the like in that position.

At the other end of rectangular container there is provided on the blankan end flap 24 having a tab 76 attached to the back wall 14 and twogenerally triangular shaped side flaps 26 and 28 attached to side walls18 and 20 respectively. To close the remaining open end of the containerthe side flaps 26 and 28 are folded inwardly until they areperpendicular to their respective walls. The end flap 24 is foldeddownwardly until it is directly over the side flaps 26 and 28. The tab76 is then tucked into place.

As shown in FIG. 3, an alternative construction for the container 12 isprovided for use with the rack of FIG. 1. This container has one endpre-formed to correspond with the angle of slope A of the inclinedsupport menas 34 and cooperate with the rack to maintain the containerin its proper alignment. A flap 92 is provided which may be removed bytearing along score lines or by other suitable means. When the flap 92is removed an opening is provided through which the articles pass ontothe tray 36. The articles are loaded into the container by means of anopening at the opposite end of the container.

The dispensing apparatus described provides a highly efficient means fordispensing articles. The unique construction of the apparatus is wellsuited for economical mass production. The container may be constructedof various materials and various decorations or display advertising maybe printed on the container.

While various features of the invention are particularly set forth inthe disclosure, it is not intended to limit the scope of the inventionwhich is defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for dispensing essentially flat articles,

comprising a container and means holding said con-' tainer in aninverted vertical position and restraining same from lateral androtational movement, said container having a hinge-connected end flapprovided on the end of one side thereof, said holding means having meanscooperating with the hinged side providing support in the verticaldirection for said container, and an inclined support shelf disposed onsaid holding means at an angle with respect to the horizontal downwardlyfrom the hinge-connection restraining said hinged end flap in a positionso as to provide an opening in said container for the dispensing of thearticles from within said container, said container being furtherprovided with hinge-connected side flaps on either side of said endflap, each of said side flaps having one side which extends from thecomer of said container between said end flap and said side flap at anangle downwardly from the hinged side of said flap and essentiallyparallel with said inclined support shelf, and said means holding saidcontainer further including a horizontally extending tray adjacent thelower terminous of said shelf to hold the dispensed articles in anaccessible disposition.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIO N' Patent No. 3776 419 Dated December 4 1973 lnventofls) Bernhard A. Zinkgraf et al.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown. below:

First page, the Assignee should be -Kraftco Coriporatieninstead of"Krafto Corporatibn'fi Column 2, line 23;: "crossmember 60" should be-cr o s s member 5( Colnmn 2, line 24, "downwardly" sheuld be -do'wnWerd-.

Column 4', line 7; "menas" should be --mea'ns.

Column 4, line 44 "said flap" should be -said side f lap-'-.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of September 197L|..

(SEAL) Attest: v I

MCCOY M. GIBSON, JR.' c. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents FORM PO-1050K10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 w u.s, GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE I96 o-s6issl.

1. Apparatus for dispensing essentially flat articles, comprising acontAiner and means holding said container in an inverted verticalposition and restraining same from lateral and rotational movement, saidcontainer having a hinge-connected end flap provided on the end of oneside thereof, said holding means having means cooperating with thehinged side providing support in the vertical direction for saidcontainer, and an inclined support shelf disposed on said holding meansat an angle with respect to the horizontal downwardly from thehinge-connection restraining said hinged end flap in a position so as toprovide an opening in said container for the dispensing of the articlesfrom within said container, said container being further provided withhinge-connected side flaps on either side of said end flap, each of saidside flaps having one side which extends from the corner of saidcontainer between said end flap and said side flap at an angledownwardly from the hinged side of said flap and essentially parallelwith said inclined support shelf, and said means holding said containerfurther including a horizontally extending tray adjacent the lowerterminous of said shelf to hold the dispensed articles in an accessibledisposition.